Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

Sir William Alec Coryton, (16 February 1895 – 20 October 1981) was a senior

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) commander in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was considered by his peers as one of the RAF's most capable group commanders.

Early life and First World War

Coryton was born at Pentillie Castle in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

on 16 February 1895. He was commissioned as an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

(

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

) during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1918 he was transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(RAF) as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. When the RFC became the

, he resigned his army commission and became an officer of the Royal Air Force.

RAF career

From 1925 to 1928, Coryton was Officer Commanding 16 Squadron, based at

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, operating the Bristol F.2 Fighter in the tactical

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

role. In 1938 Coryton was made Director of Operations (Overseas) at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

. He held this post until April 1942, when he was assigned Air Officer Commanding No. 5 Group RAF. While there he presided over the introduction of the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

into service. In February 1943 Coryton was relieved and replaced by Ralph Cochrane. Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett asserted that Coryton was sacked by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris for refusing to send a force of 24 of his Lancasters in poor weather conditions on a sneak raid to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Coryton was moved to the Air Staff at the Air Ministry, where he served as Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations). On 25 August 1944 Coryton was made Commander, RAF Third Tactical Air Force, which was renamed RAF in Bengal & Burma on 4 December 1944 with Coryton remaining in command. Ten days later he was made Assistant Air Commander, Eastern Air Command, a position he held until May 1945. About 15 October 1945, he handed over his duties in Burma and became Controller of Research and Development at the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

. The next year he transferred to the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

as Controller of Supplies (Air).Rafweb, "Air of Authority." Coryton retired from the RAF in 1951, but remained at the Ministry of Supply in a civilian capacity. He died on 20 October 1981 at Langton Matravers,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

References

External links

Air Chief Marshal Coryton
at Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coryton, Alec 1895 births 1981 deaths Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Flying Corps officers British Militia officers Rifle Brigade officers Military personnel from Cornwall Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Members of the Royal Victorian Order Knights of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Legion of Merit